SUBTHRESHOLD DEPRESSIONS: DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC PROBLEMS

In the present paper we want to emphasize the importance of more and more obvious subthreshold depressions, both for their high incidence in the general population and the high economic cost that results in terms of loss of working days, due to the difficulty of diagnosis especially for general practitioners in grasping the different aspects of Depression, when this is expressed not in the classical forms but as more and more often happens, in 'dimmed' forms and body language-included in the category of "not otherwise specified" (minor depression and brief recurrent depression), which are the main innovation compared to the DSM-IV DSM-III-R. The precocity of their diagnosis and the implementation of an effective treatment results in a lower severity of depressive symptoms and decrease in the risk of relapse. It is important therefore that doctors acquire knowledge and tools that allow early recognition of this clinical picture.